Pacific Indigenous Psychology research lab opens

The door is always open to the Galuola NIU-Psychology lab, a Pacific Indigenous Psychology research space opened by Psychology Professor Siautu Alefaio-Tugia.

Named after the framework grounding her research, NIU-Psychology stands for New Indigenous Understandings and brings Pacific-Indigenous cultural knowledge into psychological science. Galuola is a Samoan metaphor referring to the wave that brings people to safe landing.

Siautu’s drive for opening the lab was to create a culturally familiar environment for Psychology students to be immersed in, and inspired by, Pacific-led research. Her primary aspiration was to create a space that extended far wider than the traditional research focus of labs.

“While there are great Pacific support services available across the University, I saw the value of having an accessible space in the Department where students in Psychology and wider are welcome to come for support and to be with each other."
– Professor Siautu Alefaio-Tugia

“When starting my role, the story I heard from Pacific students was their feeling of isolation and lack of belonging in the academic environment,” Siautu says.

“While there are great Pacific support services available across the University, I saw the value of having an accessible space in the Department where students in Psychology and wider are welcome to come for support and to be with each other.

“The lab also acts as a space where students can see themselves in the future, whether as a student doing research or as a future academic. It’s important for them to be able to visualise that potential.”

Pacific Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate Petra Satele transferred to Otago with Siautu, her primary supervisor, when she began her role in the Department of Psychology. Petra was heavily involved with developing the Galuola NIU-Psychology lab and its ongoing activities.

Petra’s research, which is grounded in Pacific Indigenous knowledge, is exploring the role of Pacific church communities in disaster response. Now based in the Galuola NIU-Psychology lab, Petra says the students coming into the space are a great motivator for her too.

“It makes me happy seeing this space as a productive one in which students are dedicated and focused,” Petra says.

“I also love seeing the generational support between students who are at different stages and everyone is learning from each other.”

The lab includes an open space for regular fono (meetings, updates and check-ins), a fa’afaletui (collective wisdom searching) room for data collection and analysis, and a computer room for writing. Petra also coordinates initiatives and sessions for students in the lab alongside other Pacific support teams across the University.

Petra adds that while many students have missed out on the benefits of this new lab, the space is a great step in the right direction.

“A key priority now is to ensure the long-term sustainability of Pacific initiatives in Psychology, of which the lab is one,” Siautu says.

“It has proven its value for supporting students and for strengthening Pacific Psychology, a field that’s growing in demand to support our communities, both now and in the future."

Philomena Talalima and Vito Niuloa completed their undergraduate studies in Psychology prior to the opening of the Galuola NIU-Psychology lab, and both agree the lab has made a significant difference.

Philomena, who is now completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology and Master of Science, describes the value of connections that the space has facilitated.

“Vito and I supported each other through our undergraduate studies when there wasn’t a Pacific professor. When Siautu opened the lab, it meant so much as it helped us to make connections and access the wisdom and guidance of other staff and students.”

“I’m so happy to be here to see this change and be part of this progress, and to know that future Pacific students will have this fantastic supportive space as a place of belonging.”

Vito, who is now studying medicine, returns to the lab for support and to lead psychology tutorials for students through his role with the Pacific Islands Centre.

“When I take tutorials, my aim is to show students that there is this amazing space here. The existence of this physical space is just so powerful.”

– Kōrero by Guy Frederick, Communications Advisor Sciences